The stepmother of a Danby man who police said fatally shot a New York man Sunday night said the day after the incident that Michael White was only acting to defend his girlfriend and their children from harm.

“If he weren't there, he could have killed her. He defended his family,” said Debbie White, the stepmother of Michael White, who police named Monday morning as the man who fatally shot Aaron Allen, 28, of Hudson Falls, N.Y.

Standing outside her home just hundreds of feet from the scene of the incident on John Corey Road, Debbie White said Allen had made repeated visits to the road and issued multiple threats.

“He said he was going to come up here and shoot everyone,” Debbie White said of Allen.

The stepmother said that Michael White and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Heather Thompson, had been living together in a rented mobile home owned by her husband. The pair was fixing up the unit while raising two children, White's 6-year-old daughter and Thompson's 15-month-old daughter, who was fathered by Allen, according to Debbie White.

Allen, who police said had been shot twice by Michael White, was pronounced dead at Rutland Regional Medical Center. Thompson, who police said Allen stabbed multiple times, is being treated at the Rutland hospital and is expected to survive. Debbie White said Thompson had to undergo surgery and was recovering at the hospital Monday with Michael White by her side.

The stepmother added that Michael White was never taken into custody.

Police said they were called to a home on John Corey Road in Danby around 7:30 p.m. Sunday for a reported shooting and stabbing. Police said through an investigation they learned that Allen arrived at the home and attacked Thompson. Michael White, 24, of Danby, who was at the residence and is Thompson's current boyfriend, witnessed the attacked, according to police.

“White subsequently discharged a rifle, of an undetermined make and caliber, striking Allen twice,” police wrote in a press release.

Police said the Thompson had an active restraining order from New York against Allen, and Allen also had pending criminal charges in New York involving the woman for an incident that took place in April for offenses including unlawful imprisonment.

Once the investigation is complete, police said, it will be forwarded to the Rutland County state's attorney's office for review.